Explore every episode of the podcast The Methods of Rationality Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Think Knot – 10 | 06 nov. 2026 | 01:30:53 | |
John gets to use the time machine for just long enough to get completely screwed over. Boss battle in the mysterious castle sub basement! Next week we’re talking with Matt again and then we’ll be back the following week for chapters 21 and 22! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook (New and improved!) Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: What questions do you have for Matt? (If you ask more than one, we may not get to all of them) | |||
| I Think Knot – 09 | 23 oct. 2026 | 01:19:14 | |
The paranoia and distrust escalate and John gets his hands on the ansible! Next week Steven is out of town, so the week after that we’re covering chapters 18, 19, and 20! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook (New and improved!) Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: How would you test the ansible once you had both the transmitter and receiver? | |||
| I Think Knot – 08 | 16 oct. 2026 | 01:18:58 | |
Pus covered killer robots and guardian angels? This week has it all! Next week we’re covering chapters 16 and 17! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook (New and improved!) Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: Is there any reason that we have now (no future knowledge allowed) that prohibits future-John from being the mastermind behind all of this? | |||
| I Think Knot – 07 | 09 oct. 2026 | 01:21:34 | |
We learn just how messy this situation gets with a time machine in the mix and we don’t know who to trust! Next week we’re covering chapters 14 and 15! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook (New and improved!) Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: Who’s your current favorite suspect for who tried to kill Aiden and why? | |||
| I Think Knot – 06 | 02 oct. 2026 | 01:09:23 | |
The investigation is underfoot and the mastermind behind the reunion is revealed! Next week we’re covering chapters 12 and 13! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook (New and improved!) Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: Favorite examples of the past coming back to bite you, where the protagonist or (or the other people in their party) used to be a different kind of person. Bonus points if there’s a phrase which is spooky when reminded of it, a la “Are we having fun yet?” | |||
| I Think Knot – Bonus 01 | 25 sept. 2026 | 01:07:30 | |
Steven and Brian get to sit down with Matt Freeman (moridinamael) and discuss the awesome details of Matt’s writing process and the story’s origins! Next week we’re covering chapters 10 and 11! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: What’s your favorite whodunnit (optionally, your favorite trope) and why? | |||
| I Think Knot – 05 | 18 sept. 2026 | 01:18:25 | |
We get a murder mystery in a sorta-mystical castle and a time machine?? What’s not to love? Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: What’s your favorite time travel paradox? Either in general or from fiction. | |||
| I Think Knot – 04 | 11 sept. 2026 | 01:02:17 | |
This week John has a flashback to high school and his past hitches a ride back to the future! We’re covering chapters 8 and 9 next week! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! This week’s discussion question: How realistic do you like your near-term sci-fi? Give an example or two. | |||
| I Think Knot – 03 | 04 sept. 2026 | 00:55:51 | |
This week we get to Avalon and John bumps into some more old friends. We’re covering chapters 6 and 7 next week! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience Come talk about the show on the Bayesian Conspiracy discord! | |||
| I Think Knot – 02 | 28 août 2026 | 00:57:43 | |
This week we get some awesome background world building of our sci-fi setting and learn that John is either plagued by psychosis or possibly adrift in the many currents of time! We’re covering chapters 4 and 5 next week! Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the next chapter if you’re caught up. It’s also on Royal Road for smoother reading experience | |||
| I Think Knot – 01 | 21 août 2026 | 00:45:11 | |
Steven and Brian get acquainted with John and his interesting life as a possibly-famous, probably-successful writer. We’re off to a good start and having a blast! These chapters are pretty short, so we’re covering 2 and 3 next week. We’ll probably do 2 chapters a week going forward. Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook Support Matt […] | |||
| I Think Knot – 00 | 14 août 2026 | 00:07:45 | |
Steven and Brian are back, baby! We’re excited to embark on our next literary adventure – The Knot by Matt Freeman! This is just the announcement – we’ll be back next week with chapter 1! Ask Who Casts AI Audiobook Support Matt and Doof directly here! It’s also how you get to vote on the […] | |||
| Kindness To Kin | 23 mars 2026 | 00:35:46 | |
Kindness to Kin, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Original text here | |||
| A Harried Meeting (audio) | 31 déc. 2025 | 00:11:38 | |
A short story by Ben Pace. Original can be found here. Donate to the fundraiser here! Harry sings karaoke here. Happy New Year. :) | |||
| Unum 9: Carol’s Got a Nuke! | 29 déc. 2025 | 01:14:30 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about the season one finale of Pluribus. Rest assured that we can’t harm you without your consent (though we can look for loopholes to force you to join our club). Remember, your choices are your own. Thanks for […] | |||
| House elves are crystalized cosmic power | 25 déc. 2025 | 00:05:05 | |
A short story by Prerat. Original can be found here. Merry Xmas! | |||
| Unum 8: Cuddle Puddle | 22 déc. 2025 | 01:24:49 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 8 of Pluribus. You’re welcome to join us in our giant cuddle puddle. Don’t worry, it’s way less sexy than it sounds. Remember, your choices are your own. | |||
| Unum 7: Chekhov’s Spiky Palm Tree | 15 déc. 2025 | 00:49:37 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 7 of Pluribus. Please don’t walk through 100 kilometers of deadly jungle – we’re happy to give you a ride. Remember, your choices are your own. This episode had some scheduling issues around recording and a […] | |||
| Unum 06: John Cena Said We Don’t Have to Eat People | 11 déc. 2025 | 01:04:21 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 6 of Pluribus. You’re welcome to consume human-derived protein, but we don’t think that’s likely. Remember, your choices are your own. | |||
| Unum 05: It’s Not You, It’s We | 08 déc. 2025 | 01:03:16 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 5 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own. | |||
| Unum 04: Can I Get My Heroin To Go? | 04 déc. 2025 | 01:10:04 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 4 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own. | |||
| Unum 03: Would You Like a Cup of Coffee With Your Nuke? | 01 déc. 2025 | 01:01:23 | |
Welcome back to Unum! We’re so happy you can join us! We’re eager to share this conversation about episode 3 of Pluribus. We hope you enjoy this exploration of the complexities of handling the unassimilated. Remember, your choices are your own. | |||
| Unum 02: A Meeting of the Minds | 26 nov. 2025 | 01:04:32 | |
Welcome back to Unum! Steven and Brian discuss the second episode, gush about their favorite parts, and have fun speculating wildly about what “reasonable” people might do in this situation. The format of this show will be full spoilers for the episode we’re covering and we’ll do an accelerated release schedule to catch up with […] | |||
| Unum 01: The Day The World Ended | 24 nov. 2025 | 00:57:23 | |
Welcome to Unum! Steven loved Pluribus so much that he needed to talk about it and Brian was on board to join! The format of this show will be full spoilers for the episode we’re covering and we’ll do an accelerated release schedule to catch up with the show. We hope you have fun! | |||
| Blindsided 12: I Prefer a World Where Someone’s Home | 11 août 2025 | 01:44:51 | |
Join Brian and Steven as we wrap up our journey through the awesome and thought provoking world of Blindsight. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. The starting quote for this episode is: “You cannot […] | |||
| Blindsided 11: Consciousness Is a Bug, Not a Feature | 04 août 2025 | 01:16:28 | |
Join Brian and Steven as the scramblers and the vampire demon challenge the value of the very essence of of what makes us us. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. The starting quote for […] | |||
| Blindsided 10: Ow! What the Hell?? | 28 juil. 2025 | 01:06:42 | |
Brian and Steven continue their journey into space madness. Buckle up – this one gets nuts! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “If I can but make […] | |||
| Blindsided 09: Is It Wrong to Torture a Roomba? | 22 juil. 2025 | 01:08:40 | |
Join Brian and Steven as we put jumper cables on this roomba to see if it feels pain! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Why should man […] | |||
| Blindsided 08: We Got A Live One! | 15 juil. 2025 | 01:20:18 | |
Join Brian and Steven as we wrangle up some aliens of dubious sentience so we can confine them and do some mad science at them! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote […] | |||
| Blindsided 07: Competitive Ecology | 07 juil. 2025 | 01:11:59 | |
Hold on tight – Brian and Steven throw themselves back into the mysterious alien spacecraft after punching a hole in it with antimatter! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this […] | |||
| Blindsided 06: Madness-Inducing Meat-Grinder | 30 juin 2025 | 01:04:55 | |
Brian and Steven continue diving into the madness-inducing meat-grinder over and over. Come on and join the party! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “Predators run for […] | |||
| Blindsided 05: Alien Space Ghosts! | 16 juin 2025 | 01:17:10 | |
Join Brian and Steven as they throw caution to the winds, don their Big Daddy costumes, and get ready to rumble with some space ghosts! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote […] | |||
| Blindsided 04: You Wanna Throw Down, Bro?! | 09 juin 2025 | 01:11:39 | |
Join Brian and Steven, who are maybe trapped inside of a Chinese Room. Or maybe banging on it from the outside. Who knows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for […] | |||
| Blindsided 03: Theseus, are you there? It’s me, Rorschach | 02 juin 2025 | 01:10:20 | |
Join Brian and Steven as we talk with some maybe-super-smart aliens in our discussion of part 3 of Blindsight! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote for this episode is: “They know […] | |||
| Blindsided 02: Smile! You’re on Camera! | 26 mai 2025 | 01:20:59 | |
Join Brian and Steven on their expedition to the edge of the solar system with part 2 of Blindsight! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. (I read the wrong quote at the top of the episode. Whoopsie!) Check out the awesome companion […] | |||
| Blindsided 01: Aliens, Vampires, and Children – oh my! | 18 mai 2025 | 01:02:38 | |
Steven and Brian take their first real dive into the strange world of Blindsight. I hope you are having as much as we are. :) The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. Check out the awesome companion website sxp made! The starting quote […] | |||
| Blindsided 00: Announcement | 12 mai 2025 | 00:07:54 | |
Steven and Brian announce their latest reading project – Blindsight by Peter Watts! The book doesn’t have chapters in the traditional sense, but it does have natural stopping points separated by quotes. The first week we’ll be reading up until: “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. — Emerson” Everyone should buy […] | |||
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) perfection | 21 avr. 2025 | 00:52:35 | |
A movie that somehow did it all. You can find Matt at his regular media-analysis podcast at Doof Media. | |||
| Cowboy Grak 5 pt2 | 31 mars 2025 | 01:28:34 | |
Narrative about meta-narrative. Eneasz and Steven talk about the rest of Cowboy Grak 5, a Worth The Candle fanfic. | |||
| Cowboy Grak 5 full audio available | 26 mars 2025 | 00:00:22 | |
Listen to the entirety of Cowboy Grak 5 over at https://askwhocastsai.substack.com/p/cowboy-grak-5-yet-another-fistful | |||
| Cowboy Grak 5 pt1 | 24 mars 2025 | 01:29:45 | |
Not everything is a reference! Eneasz and Steven talk about half of Cowboy Grak 5, a Worth The Candle fanfic. | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 06: Pondering Knowable Dreams | 25 févr. 2025 | 00:58:24 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven wrap up their adventures in the mind of Philip K Dick. We’re gonna keep this going with Blindsight! Come back in a week or two for … part of Blindsight. We’ll figure this out later. Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| HPMOR 10 Year Anniversary Parties | 21 févr. 2025 | 00:11:57 | |
Want to run an HPMOR Anniversary Party, or get notified if one’s happening near you? Fill this out! | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch: No New Episode | 03 févr. 2025 | 00:00:29 | |
No new episode this week, y’all. We’ll be back to wrap up the show as soon as we can. In the mean time, check out some other awesome content like AskWho’s AI audiobooks and essays. Stay awesome and we look forward to chatting about the end of our PKD adventures. Also, did you happen across […] | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 05: Peculiar Kafkaesque Dimensions | 20 janv. 2025 | 01:00:19 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven chew on the Chew-Z madness. The next episode will be delayed by a week, so come back in two weeks for the final three chapters, 11, 12, and 13! Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 04: Phantasmal Knowledge Discussion | 13 janv. 2025 | 01:07:42 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven discuss Barney’s trip down depression lane. Come back next week for chapters 9 and 10! Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 03: Parallel Knowledge Dimensions | 06 janv. 2025 | 01:25:38 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven continue their exploration the layers of madness that is the mind of Philip K. Dick. Come back next week for chapters 7 and 8! Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 02: Psychedelic Kindred Dreams | 30 déc. 2024 | 01:08:52 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven continue their exploration of the real and surreal while enjoying some psychedelic plants. Come back next week for chapters 5 and 6! Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch 01: Pioneering Key Discourse | 23 déc. 2024 | 00:58:48 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven dive deep into the Earth’s surface to survive the first two chapters of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch! Come back next week for chapters 3 and 4. Also, did you happen across this looking for HPMoR stuff? Find it here. | |||
| Man in the High Castle 07: Plunge into Kindred Dimensions | 09 déc. 2024 | 01:51:52 | |
Welcome back to PKD! Brian and Steven wrap up their reading of Man in the High Castle with the last 3 chapters. Things get exciting, then surreal, then weird, then even weirder, and everyone lives happily ever after. Come back in a week (or two) for the first two chapters of The Three Stigmata of […] | |||